I undertook the CFA program to try to advance my career and successfully completed the program last year. I work in Middle Office at a hedge fund and figured that the CFA would certainly help me get into a trading or investment management type role but it hasn’t. The fact of the matter is that employers look for people who have practical experience in the roles they are hiring for and won’t give you a chance just because you have a CFA (unles you are really lucky I suppose). In all honesty I wish I had pursued an MBA.
Experience will always trump a designation. It’s too bad it took you 3 levels to figure that out. You have 2 options now: network like crazy and/or get into a MBA program that has good recruitment opportunities and a strong alumni network.
^ Did you read the thread in the General forum about the guy that had cancer but still wanted to study for the exam? The head of marketing at the CFA Institute is underpaid.
^ yes I saw that. I lumped that in with the story about the woman who declared she’ll keep takin the exams until death if need be, and she’ll have CFA chiseled on her tombstone.
If CFAI were a stock, I’d not only be all in, I’d be 5x levered.
People have no patience. Stuff like CFA, networking, experience are like seeds. You need to cultivate them and water them over years and years for a strong tree to develop.
Kids expect the little saplings to become mighty oaks after mere months, then get frustrated and yank out the saplings when they don’t grow right before their eyes. Plant them, water them (but largely ignore them and don’t pay attention to their size), and continue to plant more trees. When you come back to some of them over the years, you may find some deep roots have grown. But it won’t happen overnight.
Don’t forget that any profession (including medical and legal, for that matter) is only driven by the underlying demand in the economy for the goods or services which that field produces. People act as if there is just some underlying constant about an industry where if you pass a test, you’re “set.” You need to go out there and realize what’s in demand and what’s likely to be in demand, develop a plan as to how you can position yourself to take advantage of this in the long term, and above all, be patient.
How big is your shop? A feel a small shop will provide a better opportunity to move up. Our HF is ~45 employees and we like bringing MO guys up to trading/strategy. A large fund on the other hand, I can see it being more like a Big-Bank atmosphere and easy to get lost in the crowd. (This is an assumption, I have only been at a small fund, but have been at big Sell-Side banks.) Has anyone made the transition before from MO to Front Office? If so, talk to them about their transition.
I don’t know what your review/comp schedule is like, but do you have some sort of regular review periods with your supervisor (Semi-anually, annually) where you go over your progress and performance? Take this time to voice your career goals and talk about where you want to go. Offer to take some more responsiibility. Even when I was at a Big Sell Side bank, my VPs helped steer me onto the PM track and introduced me to the right people. Don’t assume everyone knows what you want to do with your career.
Also, do you currently have any interaction with your traders? Have you ever gone over to one of them, asked him/her if you could go get a cup a coffee a pick their brain about some of their strategies or how they came into their role? Does anyone there even know you have aspirations to trade? Being on the desk, the biggest concern is your book, not what the Middle Office guys’ career goals are. Again, Don’t assume just because you make it known you are progressing toward the Charter, people know what you want to do with your career. Most people also love to talk about themselves, I doubt they willl tell you to F-Off if you ask a few questions.
At the end of the day its all down to what you can offer. Never assume you are entitled to anything just becasue you earned a degree or the charter. Showing up an hour early to shadow a trader during the morning (or even just to be seen as “The guy who hustles”) goes a lot farther than “I earned my charter, what can you offer me”.
Stay hungry and keep going for it. Took me 10+ years to land on a desk in my dream job. Know what you want, figure out what it takes to get there, and go for it. Are the odds stacked against you? Honestly, Yes. But you are already at a HF, so your foot is in the door… Now you just have to figure out whats it going to take to pry it open all the way.
I think people forget that finance is different from other fields - theres little or no academic knowledge in use unlike science or engineering fields and everything is learnt on the job, end result being that the most important thing you have is skillset and experience rather than past education…
I’m at a big shop ($15bil AUM) that has been around for a while so yes you definitely get lost in the crowd at places such as this. I have spoken with a few of the traders I’m close with so they know my aspirations, there just aren’t enough spots on the desk, and as I mentioned, no one really wants to bring on someone who has no experience. I suppose you can’t keep moving people up otherwise there would be no one in operations.
Going to a small shop seems like a much better alternative. Grow as the firm grows and hopefully get a shot to trade.
Pateince is a virtue for sure, but I have been doing this for 6 years with almost no career progression (which is where my frustration stems from). I really appreciate the feedback and will continue to push on.
I wouldn’t say “Screwed”… but if you are currently at a big shop (that I am assuming is big for a reason, and has some clout) you can lever that name into the same role at a smaller, newer shop. Yes, you are taking the risk of moving to a firm that may well fail, but being on the ground floor of a new fund has a pretty good risk/reward balance. You can more easily stand out with fewer employees, and if the place proves its worth and is able to continually grow AUM with good performance, the comp should follow.
